Sometimes, It's better to Forget Responsibility
by ThatRandonFangirlGamer
Summary: In an effort to make Molly happier, Giovanni organizes a sleepover between her, Sylvie, and himself. Both those kids need to lighten up and have a good time for once, and if anyone could do it, he could.
1. Chapter 1

Thirty minutes had passed, and not a single person had entered the store yet. Molly yawned, and rubbed her tired eyes. The small analogue clock blinked 11:30 at her, like it was mocking her. She barely had customers ever, anyways; who buys toys this late at night, besides for the oddballs that came into the store on occasion. What did that really matter when she needed the money, though? At least it was Friday, which meant she didn't have school the next day.  
Slow nights like this were her least favorite. She was bored, she didn't get hardly any money, and she really needed the sleep she was missing out on. After all the action she'd been through, she thought she'd be alright with a few quiet days, but it seemed that every night after the museum incident, she wanted something exciting to happen again. She never thought of herself as an adventurous person before, but now she found that, perhaps, she was.  
She was ever grateful that she had her friends around still. Giovanni had been, for the past few days, dropping by to talk to her. He could not hang out with her outright, though, because the police were suspicious still, trying to find the banzai bandits,and although they were onto Giovanni himself, he found it safest to lay low while they investigated. All in all, though, his spontaneous presence helped her immensely. The change in her mood the past week even was mentioned in passing by her sister, who never seemed to notice anything. Molly made note to tell Giovanni this the next time he snuck in to say hi.  
As for Sylvie, he also stayed in touch with her. He had called her when he got to the hospital like she asked, and had been calling frequently since. He had healed wonderfully from everything he'd gone through at the museum, and was now out. He, like giovanni, had begun to talk to her more spontaneous, as he had research to catch up on. She grew a little lonely when she was at home without either of her friends, but when Sylvie called, he was also clearly lonely, although he refused to show it outright, and she supposed this was because he didn't have any other friends to confide in. It made her very grateful for the friends she had at school.  
The clock on the desk now flashed midnight at her, and the closed thing she had to a customer was a woman who paused outside the shop and peered in, as if considering buying something, before she walked away. Against her better judgement, she felt herself beginning to nod off. She looked outside, hoping to spot another curious passerby to excite herself out of her grogginess. She didn't see anyone, and then she was both tired and frustrated. She only had to make it to 1:30, and then she could sleep, but the 12:05 on the clock seemed to laugh at her as it glowed.  
Suddenly, someone dropped down in front of her. She cried out in fear, cut off by a panic "shhh!"  
She looked up at the man. "Giovanni!" She exclaimed quietly, grinning, "I was hoping you'd come to visit!"  
He chuckled. "Holdin' down the fort tonight, huh, Bear Trap?"  
Molly sighed, "Every night." Her tired frown turned back into a smile, "But it's not so bad when you're around."  
"Yeah, so, I was thinking: Let's ditch this place."  
"What?"  
"Yeah, I thought it over, let's all just have a sleepover! You been saying you want to get out of the house all week, so I figured this would work."  
Molly laughed, "Giovanni, you're crazy! My dad wouldn't want me staying the night at your house!"  
"Would your dad notice if you snuck out, though?" He asked with a sly grin.  
"No," she answered slowly, "I suppose he wouldn't. My sister probably would take a while to realize it too."  
"Yeah, so let's do it. We could grab that other kid too. That little brat with the sheep. Uh… What was his name?"  
"Sylvie!" Molly cheered.  
"Yeah, him. Even if he annoyed me to no end," Giovanni growled  
"I think he needs someone to hang out with. He sounds really lonely. All he does is research things, and he always gets really excited and calls me to tell me all about it. But then he asked me about my day, and I tell him about school and the time I spend with my friends, and he sounds sad while we talk about it. Even sometimes when I tell him that you visited he sounds sad, and he doesn't like you that much."  
Giovanni paused to take her words in. "Well… shoot. I don't want him to be sad, even if I like to make fun of him."  
"You are inviting him to a sleepover," Molly pointed out, "That'd make him feel less lonely, I bet!"  
"Oh, you're right!" Giovanni exclaimed, "Man, I am just great at cheering people up!"  
Molly giggled, and stood up from the desk for the first time since her shift began. Finally, something very exciting was happening, and it wasn't even a bad thing this time. Somehow, she found the energy she was looking for to keep her awake, and she felt less tired as she closed up the shop and followed Giovanni out into the darkened street. She looked up at the sky, taking in the stars barely visible beneath the lights of the city, which in themselves also held the beautiful appearance of the glittering nighttime sky. "So, what do we do now?" Molly asked Giovanni.  
"Well, we better go find wherever that nerd is," He supposed, "Sylvie, or whatever."  
"Yay!" Molly peeped with a chuckle.  
"Where would he be now?" Giovanni muttered.  
"Probably at home," Molly plainly answered.  
"Do you know where he lives?"  
"Yeah, but it's all the way across the city."  
"No big deal."  
Molly had Sylvie's address written in her notepad on her phone so she wouldn't forget it, and she pulled it up. She read it off to Giovanni who exclaimed "Of course!" as if he knew all along where Sylvie had been.  
"How are we going to get there?" Molly asked.  
"Same way everybody gets around. I have a car," Giovanni remarked.  
"You have a car?" Molly replied in surprise.  
"Yeah, don't most kids my age?" he asked, "I'm an adult, you know."  
"I just didn't think you were responsible enough," Molly explained.  
Giovanni sneered, "No, I wasn't the one that crashed one car three times."  
Molly laughed, "Yeah! That's true."  
They stopped at a car parked on the side of the road a small distance from the store. "Is this yours?" Molly asked.  
"Yeah, you can tell from the flames painted on the side."  
Indeed, she saw that the car was all black with flames painted down the sides. The flames appeared to be painted on sloppily, and if Giovanni hadn't called them flames, it would have taken her a minute or two to figure out what they were. He must have painted them on himself. He pulled out his keys and unlocked the car. A tight squeeze of excitement resonated inside her as she climbed into the back seat of his car. There was a thrill in breaking the rules, in doing things for herself, in giving her family a sign that she was her own person, and she didn't need any of them to tell her how to live. She could make her own decisions and have her own opinions, and she had people who knew that. They encouraged it, in fact. She didn't need her dad or sister, here she was with people that would let her be her without her having to be more than she already was. It was relieving.  
"You still sit in the back seat?" Giovanni asked her, raising an eyebrow.  
"Yeah," she answered, "Usually my sister sits up front. I'm more comfortable back here."  
"You're welcome to sit up here," he offered.  
Any other day, she would have said no, but tonight she hopped out of the back and into the front. She clicked her seat belt on, and then made sure it was firmly wrapped around her at Giovanni's request. After he made sure both of them were strapped in safely (safety is important) he smoothly began to drive off. Molly peered out her window, watching the streetlights they passed, the light wavering over them. They were the only things that were familiar on these new roads. Despite that, she was glad to be driving down new roads; this was a route she could get used to, no, wanted to get used to.  
"You've been pretty quiet," Giovanni commented.  
Molly shrugged in reply. "I'm just thinking."  
"Thinking about what?" He asked.  
"I, well…" She sighed, "It's hard to explain. I guess, all this happening, meeting you and Sylvie, and doing all this crazy stuff, it feels like I'm someone else. In a good way, though! Like, the person I was always trying to be, I'm am her now. Everything back home made me feel like I had to be someone else than who I was or who I wanted to be. I had to be that girl that made my dad and sister happy. But then, I met you. Everything changed after that. I could be myself and the person I wanted to be, and I think I'm the person I want to be right now even! You two made me realize that, and I guess Mera and that barrier guy did too, sort of, and-" she sighed, "I guess what I'm trying to say is, thank you."  
Giovanni was silent for a minute. "Geez, Bear Trap, it's hard to drive on the verge of tears. This hardly seems safe."  
"I'm sorry!" She rushed in concern.  
"Naw, it's okay, kiddo," Giovanni told her, "It was, well… You see, I'm not actually upset, not at you at least, I'm really happy you feel that was and I, and that other punk, too, I guess, are able to help you. You have seemed to be smiling more recently, and so I've been hoping maybe I was making an impact. I wasn't so sure of myself at first, but I want to help you, and knowing I have been is just so awesome. And I promise I'm not going to cry, and even if I am- I mean was- crying, it's not because I'm sad." He let out a strained chuckled, tightening and loosening his grip on the wheel. "I guess what I mean to say is, your welcome, but also thank you at the same time."  
"Thank you?" She asked, "Why are you thanking me?"  
"I feel meaningful, I guess."  
"What?"  
He shook his head again, with a confused grin. "I don't quite know how to explain it, it's just a nice feeling."  
"Okay."  
The rest of the drive was as quiet as the beginning, as they both mulled over what they had been told. It wasn't an awkward or strained kind of silence, but a respectful one. As one point in time, which neither of them really could remember, Giovanni had switched on the radio, which was playing loud music, but it was turned down significantly, so it was just a hum. It was background noise to Molly, who hardly noticed when it had been turned on and quickly tuned it out when she did. Even Giovanni forgot about it quickly, seeming to only have turned in on in an effort to feel like he was doing something worthwhile during the drive other than thinking.  
The car slowed to a stop at the side of the road, outside a small apartment building. "We're here," Giovanni announced.  
Molly stepped out of the car, feeling the sharp Taiga air nip at her hands and face, unprotected by her hoodie. She looked up at the building, scanning the windows, and how more were dark than lit. One light when out as she gazed up, and she remembered with a small jolt that it was around 12:30 in the morning.  
"Do you know what room is his?" Giovanni inquired.  
"Yeah, he said room 105," she recited, recalling his words from numerous conversations they held over the phone.  
"Okay then, we're all set!" Giovanni exclaimed. Molly giggled in excitement through her shivering. Under his breath, Giovanni added, "I hope your ready for a night of excitement, nerd."


	2. Chapter 2

Molly tapped against the door near-inaudibly. "C'mon, Bear Trap, you're going to have to knock a little louder than that for him to hear you!"  
"I don't wanna wake anybody up," Molly murmured. She knocked a slightly louder, but not by much.  
Giovanni scoffed. "If you want, I can get my bat out of the trunk and I can show you how to really get someone's attention!"  
"No, no!" Molly squeaked, holding out her hands in protest. She gave the door a good knock that time.  
There was a long pause, and it seemed like no one would answer. Molly was about to knock again, determined to not give up, when the door opened. Sylvie stood there staring at them in tired confusion, until he recognized who was there. He looked up at Giovanni with disgust blatant on his face. "Oh, of course," he sighed, "Only you could come here at this hour without being invited or me giving you my address."  
"Sorry," Molly peeped looking at the ground.  
"Molly?" Sylvie gasped, turning towards where he hear her from, "Oh, I didn't- I-" He laughed nervously.  
"Yeah, she's here too," Giovanni sneered, "So, yes, you did give us your address."  
"I gave her my address," Sylvie scowled back, "I had no intention of you ever coming here." He paused for a moment, looking between Giovanni and Molly in contemplation. "I suppose it's alright if you're her ride. Why on earth are you here so late, though?"  
"To pick you up," Giovanni answered matter-of-factly, "We're having a sleepover."  
"No. Absolutely not," Sylvie insisted at once, "Not on such short notice, and I'm especially not going anywhere with a known criminal. Shouldn't you be on the run or something."  
"I'm more the 'goes into hiding' type," Giovanni explained with a shrug.  
Sylvie hummed doubtfully in reply. "I've got research to be working on. I've been working non stop since this morning."  
"Then take a break, jeez!" Giovanni retorted, "You can't work away your whole life!"  
"Exactly. I'm very busy," Sylvie pointed out, "I won't have forever."  
"There's more to life than researching forever," Giovanni growled.  
"Like what?"  
"Friends maybe?" Giovanni spat, exasperated.  
Sylvie flinched. "Now your just making fun of- Wait." He turned to Molly, and for a moment she saw a lot of hurt and loneliness on his face, but he composed himself and became the same, professional-looking boy she knew. "I suppose I can come along, but only if you let me have a closer look at your epithets," he agreed finally.  
"No!" Giovanni insisted, "No research aloud! You need a break!"  
"Let me research or I won't go!" Sylvie hissed in reply, "Molly, back me up here."  
Molly stammered. "Well, honestly Sylvie, I think you need a break too. You've been working and working and working… Does it ever stop?"  
"Of course it does, I sleep sometimes. I slept just last night. A full four hours. A little more than usual, so I'm fine."  
"Four hours?" Giovanni exclaimed, "You at least sleep every night, right?"  
Sylvie laughed condescendingly. "No."  
Giovanni paused in shock. "How often do you sleep?"  
Sylvie shrugged. "Who knows." Giovanni grabbed both his shoulders. "Hey! What are you-?  
"Okay, nerd boy, that's it! You are going to my sleepover, because-" he gestured to everyone in the room with a flourish "-You all NEED some sleep!"  
"Put me down right now, or you'll be the one asleep," Sylvie grumbled, trying to pry off Giovanni's hands.  
"Please?" Molly spoke up, "I think it will be fun."  
Sylvie made of small noise of frustration, but lowered his hands in defeat. "Fine. But I'm walking there myself; let go of me!"  
Giovanni let go cautiously, like the boy might run off the moment he loosened his grip.  
"Thank you," Sylvie told him coldly.  
"C'mon, Sylvie, aren't you just a little excited?" Molly asked him with a smile.  
Sylvie replied with a dry, "I guess."  
They arrived back outside, the chilly air stinging slightly against their skin. Sylvie pulled up his hood with a small shiver. "Now," Giovanni explained, "Bear Trap always rides shotgun, so-"  
"What?" Sylvie interrupted, "But I'm older!"  
"Maybe physically," Giovanni jeered under his breath.  
"What was that?" Sylvie shot back.  
"Nothing. I didn't say anything," Giovanni quickly answered.  
Sylvie eyed him angrily for a moment. "I don't really care, honestly," he finally stated, "She can ride up front if she wants."  
Everyone settled into the car, Molly up front leaning against the door filled with contented sleepiness, and Sylvie in the back with his arms crossed in a pout. Giovanni wrapped his fingers around the steering wheel, a feeling of purpose filling him. The car began to take off, rolling smoothly down the streets of Sweet Jazz City. The bright lights and warm coziness of driving with people that understood her began to lull Molly to sleep, and before long, she was out. She wasn't aware of when exactly they arrived at Giovanni's house, or who carried her inside, but she remembered waking up for a few seconds, wrapped soundly in a fluffy blankets in a dimly-lit room, then letting herself fall back asleep. She felt safe.

Sylvie and Giovanni stood in awkward silence in his room. Having just tucked Molly into the guest bedroom, Giovanni leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. On the other side of the room, Sylvie was standing with his arms crossed as well; it wasn't his usual condescending pose, it was more nervous, like it would protect him. His green eyes darted curiously over the room. Giovanni could almost see the cogs turning in Sylvie's mind.  
"You always find something to overthink, huh, Nerd Boy?" Giovanni asked him.  
Sylvie grumbled something too quiet to understand, but made no true retort. He looked down at the floor, curling and uncurling his toes in sudden self-consciousness.  
"Oh," Giovanni murmured in realization, "I guess that's just what you do."  
"You wouldn't get it," Sylvie finally replied softly.  
Giovanni nodded. "Yeah, I probably wouldn't. Even so, it looks like something's bothering you."  
"Well, for starters, I'd rather not be hanging out with you. I thought I'd be okay with Molly around, but it seems I did not account for her falling asleep before you."  
"Duh," Giovanni interjected, "I know that! What I was saying is that something is on your mind, and you should, I don't know, maybe talk about it or something. Aren't you a therapist? Shouldn't you know a thing or two about this kind of thing?  
"You don't know anything about it," Sylvie snapped, "Leave it to the professionals, Crime Boy!" Sylvie thought that Crime Boy was a good retaliation to being called Nerd Boy all the time (It was not).  
"Okay, I'm going to ignore the name calling," Giovanni commented, "I might not have a degree, but I think I know enough to know something's going on in that dingus little head of yours."  
"Well, it's nothing I want to tell you, of all people!"  
Giovanni shrugged in defeat. "Whatever. At least try and get some sleep if you really hate me that much."  
"No!" Sylvie exclaimed, "And I never said I- oh well, I guess I did say I hated you that one time… But I don't really hate you. I just dislike the things you do and would rather not hang out one-on-one."  
Giovanni scoffed, "If you say so, kid."  
"I'm not a kid!" Sylvie shouted, his arms falling rigidly to his side, fists balled in sudden anger.  
"Yeah, what's up with that anyway?" Giovanni asked him.  
"What do you mean?"  
"I'm not a kid," Giovanni elaborate, doing an impression of Sylvie that did not sound like Sylvie at all. "Why? What's the big deal? It's not like the world's ending or something."  
"It- I-" Sylvie stammered. He suddenly felt like he could not articulate a thing. "It's just important to me. I don't have to explain it to you." His yelling had died down to more of a pouting tone. He crossed his arms in the same defensive way he had earlier.  
"I'm just saying, give yourself some time to grow up, man," Giovanni explained, "Do you want to be rushing around like this forever."  
"Yeah," Sylvie admitted, "But I can't, so I have to make the most of my time."  
Giovanni looked at Sylvie with utter concern. "What the actual heck are you going on about?"  
"Time's not going to wait for me to take my time growing up," Sylvie explained harshly, "I have to do things as quickly as I can or else…" He trailed off, realizing he had been losing face, and composed himself. "I don't know why I'm telling you this," he admitted quietly.  
Suddenly, Giovanni's arms were wrapped around him in a firm hug. He hadn't even noticed him cross the room towards him through all his ranting. Half of him wanted to push Giovanni away, but the other half of him- that horribly alone half of him- made him hug back instead. "I thought you hated me," he whispered, his voice strained.  
Giovanni inhaled sharply. "No." He didn't know what else to say. How could he have just realized now that Sylvie had also been overthinking everything he had said to him? "I'm sorry."  
Sylvie was silent for a few minutes. "Me too."  
Giovanni didn't know what to do now. Should he let Sylvie go and have some space? But as he loosened the hug, Sylvie gripped at his sleeves harder, and buried his face into Giovanni's shoulder. "I'm sorry," Sylvie whimpered, "It's just scary…"  
"What's scary?" Giovanni asked, feeling dread build up inside him.  
"I don't want to live an unfulfilled life," Sylvie explained, and with a wave of shock Giovanni realized Sylvie was crying, "I don't want to be forgotten. Not after everything I worked for. But I don't… know… how. And it feels like I'm running out of time to figure things out always."  
Giovanni was speechless. He had never considered that the world would go on without him, much less that he'd be forgotten. Even now, it didn't seem that bad to him; he'd be remembered by those who loved him, and who cares about the rest. He wouldn't say that to Sylvie though. That wouldn't change his mind, but it would probably feel pretty dang invalidating, and that was not Giovanni's goal.  
"Honestly, I don't know how to fix that either," Giovanni confessed, "But I want you to know that I will never forget you, ever. In a good way, too, in case you were wondering."  
Sylvie looked back up from where he had hidden his head. Giovanni could see tears clinging onto his glasses' lens. "Thank you," he squeaked, nearly inaudible.  
"No problem, ki- Sylvie," Giovanni replied quietly, "Now, I mean it this time when I say it's time to sleep. You really need it. Trust me."  
Too exhausted to argue, not that he wanted to anymore, Sylvie nodded in agreement. He could hardly keep his eyes open now that he had stopped crying. He knew strong emotions could make someone more tired, but he hadn't realized just how exhausting crying was.  
Giovanni chuckled lightly. "Don't fall asleep here. I don't think I can carry you to bed too!"  
"Mmm," Sylvie sleepily mumbled, "Where exactly am I sleeping?"  
"Well, Bear Trap is in the guest bed, and I suppose my mom might see you if you slept on the couch. I guess I could let you sleep in my bed?"  
"I'd rather sleep on the floor," Sylvie muttered.  
"Or you could do that," Giovanni offered.  
"I'd prefer that, in all honesty," Sylvie told him.  
Giovanni whisked around his room, scavenging his closet and dresser for anything soft. He managed to somehow pull a blanket or spare pillow from every nook and cranny of his bedroom. It was rather impressive. He amassed it in a large pile in the middle of the floor. It was a nest of blankets and sheets all mushed together, overlapping and tangling with one another in a circular shape, outlined by fluffy pillows.  
"There you go!" Giovanni announced, gesturing to blanket-pillow amalgamation with pride. He saw that Sylvie had summoned one of his sheep while he was waiting, and was petting it absent-mindedly, and tired smile on his face. He stared out into space, no doubt thinking of some complicated psychology thing way over Giovanni's head. It was kind of endearing. It struck Giovanni that when he met Sylvie in the museum, he had only gotten to see one side of him, and maybe that side of Sylvie wasn't the best side. Sylvie seemed like a pretty nice guy to him now that they both weren't totally stressed out.  
Giovanni gave Sylvie's arm a gentle shove, shaking him from his thoughts. "Hey. Your bed is ready."  
Sylvie stared down at the clump of blankets and pillows. He grinned. "That looks comfy," he commented. Sylvie walked over to the blankets, and laid down in them, wrapping himself up in a blanket cocoon. His sheep followed him and nuzzled up beside him.  
"Good night," Giovanni called to him, but Sylvie was already asleep. Then Giovanni turned off the light. He was tired too. God, taking care of these kids was a full time job.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Text**

"Giovanni! I'm not going to say it again! Wake up, or I'll come in there and wake you myself!" His mother's voice cut the serene quiet for the millionth time. Finally, Giovanni pushed himself up with a yawn. She couldn't walk in now or else he'd get caught, and he'd rather not have to send his friends home and get an earful from his mom first thing in the morning.  
"I'm awake! Sheesh!" He yelled back to her. With a shiver, he pulled his hoodie on over his pajamas. Winter was quickly approaching the Taiga, and the first few days of bone-chilling cold were upon them. He was really hoping to take his friends out somewhere fun, but maybe it was too cold. He hoped it would get warmer as the day went on. He glanced at Sylvie, whose sleep was miraculously undisturbed through all the shouting.  
He walked out of his room cautiously. His mother was nowhere to be seen, which meant she was in the kitchen, so that's where he went. "Good morning, Gigi!" She greeted him.  
"Moooooom!" Giovanni whined, "I told you to stop calling me that!"  
"Oh, lighten up, Gigi," She nagged with a dismissive wave of her hand, "I have to head to work, now. Remember to do your chores. Now, if I come home and this house is a wreck, I'm going to take your car keys again."  
"Mom, not my car!" He yelled.  
"Sass back again and they're gone now," she warned.  
"Aw, okay," he sighed, defeated.  
"Goodbye, Gigi. I love you," she said, trotting out of the kitchen, into the front room, and out the door.  
"What in the world should I do now?" He wondered to himself, "Usually, I just go back to sleep after she leaves, but maybe I should say up and do something nice for the others. But what?"  
He eyed the stove. Yes, that was perfect! He'd make breakfast. He wasn't the best cook in the world, but he certainly knew how to make eggs and toast. He opened the refrigerator, and reached for the egg carton. As he pulled it out, another carton caught his eye. It was orange juice! Aw, those kids are going to love this!  
He pulled a skillet from a drawer, and put it on the stove, turning on the heat. Carefully, he cracked three eggs onto it, which seemed to be the most the skillet could hold at once without them all running together. While he let them cook, he turned to the toaster, popping in two slices of bread. They hopped back up at him after a minute, nice and crisp. He put the two slices on a plate and cut each into triangles. Then, he put one more slice into the toaster, and did the same to it.  
By the time he was done with the toast, the first batch of eyes was done cooking. He pulled out two more plates, dividing the triangles of toast amongst them, and then giving each plate an egg. Then, he started three more eggs. Two eggs and two toast triangles seemed to be a good amount of food. He was so excited to share this!

The soft light streaming against her face first began to wake Molly up, but the smell of food is what really got her up. It had been so long since she had a home cooked meal, she thought she imagined it at first. She sat up, still a little sleep-addled. With a start, she remembered that she was not in her own room. She smiled as she remembered that she was at Giovanni's house.  
She crawled out of the bed, still in her full outfit from the day before. She wandered out of her room, following the scent to the kitchen.  
"Good morning!" Giovanni greeted her when she entered, "You're just in time!"  
Molly grinned at him. She looked at the plates of food on the table. "Did you make that?"  
"I sure did!" Giovanni confirmed with pride.  
"Wow! Thank you!" Molly joyously exclaimed.  
"Do you want anything to drink? We have orange juice!" He told her in excitement.  
"Oh, yes, orange juice please," she requested quickly, "I love orange juice!"  
He placed a glass of orange juice next to her plate as she dug into her eggs. "How'd you sleep, kiddo?"  
"Really well," Molly answered, "I probably slept better last night than I ever did at home. At least, recently."  
Giovanni gently tousled her hair. "Good!" Seeing that Molly was all settled down with her food, he sat down to his own ate, and began to eat as well.  
Molly looked around. "Did Sylvie leave or something?"  
Giovanni laughed. "No, he's still asleep. He needs it, so I'm going to let him sleep as long as he wants."  
"Oh, that's good," Molly commented, "He seemed a little over-worked lately."  
"That's an understatement," He whisper under his breath. Louder, so Molly could hear, he said, "Sylvie is… A strange kid. But he'll be alright, I think."  
"Woah, what, are you guys friends now or something?" Molly chuckled.  
Giovanni shrugged, "Eh. Sort of."  
Molly laughed louder. "I went to sleep for half a night, and you guys are friends now?"  
"It is kind of ridiculous sounding," Giovanni agreed with a smile, "But, I don't know, I find him a nice guy when he isn't being a total stick in the mud, y'know?"  
Molly nodded. "I think I know what you mean." She looked back down at her plate, her eggs now gone. She regarded her bare toast for a second. "Do you have any jelly?"  
"I don't know; let me check." Giovanni started rummaging through the pantry. Finally, he spotted a jar with a purple lid and label. It was grape jelly. "Here you go!" He called, presenting the jelly very dramatically, as he did most things.  
"Thank you," she giggled adorably. She carefully spread the jelly over her toast. When she was done, she picked up the first triangle, and took a big bite out of it. "Mmmm!" She hummed with a contented smile.  
Giovanni sat back down and decided to jelly his toast all well. "You like it, then?"  
"It's delicious. You did amazing!"  
Giovanni laughed, "Thank you, Bear Trap."  
"So, what did you guys do last night?" Molly asked with a curious grin.  
"We just talked," Giovanni answered nonchalantly.  
"Oh," Molly peeped, "About what?"  
"Oh, um…" Giovanni wasn't certain on how to answer. He was pretty sure Sylvie wouldn't want him to tell Molly about what they discussed that night, and he didn't especially want to tell her either. "Y'know… Things."  
"Aw, c'mon," Molly pushed, "It must have been pretty awesome, since you two are friends now."  
"Ah, well, we talked about you," Giovanni laughed nervously, "Yes! You! You are such a great friend, just talking about you made us friends!"  
"Wow, really?"  
"Yeah!"  
"I feel so powerful!" Molly giggled.  
Giovanni laughed as well, "Yee-up!" He agreed, "You have power unmatched." He looked for something to change the subject with, before she could see he was lying through his teeth. "Hey, do you want seconds?" He asked, noticing she had cleaned her plate.  
"No, thank you. I'm stuffed!" She answered.  
He took his last bite of toast. "Looks like we eat about the same, then," he noted. He picked up his plate, and hers, and carried them over to the sink. He turned to her. "What do you want to do now?" He asked.  
"Oh, um… I don't know!" Molly replied, "What is there to do?"  
Giovanni thought for a while. "Well, I knit. There are some board games in my room too. I think we've got Apples to Apples, Connect Four, I think maybe a checkers board… Oh, and Battleship!"  
"Ah, I love Battleship!" Molly cheered.  
"Battleship it is then!" He whisked off to his room. Now, he had to sneak in and get the game without waking Sylvie up. He opened the door slowly, thankful that it did not creek even slightly. He moved as quietly as possible, nearly holding his breath. Scanning the room, he found the shelf with the games. He moved over to it silently. The games were stacked on the bottom shelf neatly. Battleship was on the bottom of the pile. Giovanni wanted to shout in anger, but he clenched his teeth and did not make a sound.  
Carefully, he wedged his thumb between Battleship and the other games, and slowly pulled it out. He gently lowered the other games at an angle. Just as he pulled Battleship free, the other games slipped from his grip and hit the ground with a thud. Giovanni sucked in a sharp breath, and turned to where Sylvie slept. Relief filled him as he saw that Sylvie was still asleep. Sylvie shifted had a little so he could cuddle up against his sheeps soft wool. Giovanni thought it was super cute.  
He snuck back out the room, successfully leaving Sylvie sleeping soundly. He walked into the living room, where he found Molly sitting on the couch. Her hands were folded politely over her lap, and she was humming quietly to herself. Noticing Giovanni, she asked, "Did you get the game?"  
Giovanni held up the game in triumph. "I sure did!"  
"Yay!"  
He laid the game on the table, and opened it up, prompting stray pegs to off the board. Molly and Giovanni gathered them up quickly and poured them back into the bins haphazardly so that some of the white pegs went into the red, and some reds, with the whites. They were already jumbled anyways. Then, they began to assemble their battleship positions. "Ready!" Molly chimed. Giovanni placed his last two ships indifferently, foregoing strategy in order to start playing more quickly.  
"Ready."  
"Who's going first?"  
"You should go first."  
"Oh. Ok! Um… I6?"  
Giovanni place a white pegs into the plastic ocean. "Missed. E8."  
Molly did likewise. "Missed. F2."  
Giovanni shook his head. "B10."  
"Nope. H7."  
"So I was wondering- E4- How long do you want to stay?"  
"I can stay more than one day?" Molly asked, "Also, you missed. A5?"  
"Ahg, you got one of my ships! Also, yeah. You just don't seem that happy at home."  
"A6?"  
"Missed. K2?" He paused. "You can stay as long as you want. In fact, anytime home gets overwhelming, just call. Or show up. I don't care. I just want you to be safe and happy."  
Molly looked up at him with wide, admiring eyes. "Thank you," She murmured, "Also, you hit one of my ships. A4?"  
"Aw, you sunk my battleship!" Giovanni whined, discarding the tiny, two-peg ship. "K3?"  
Molly shook her head sorrowfully. "Hit me again. K7?"  
"Missed. K4?"  
"You missed. So close, yet so far," Molly giggled, "H3?"  
"Missed, but just barely."  
"Ooh!"  
"K1."  
Molly removed a three-peg long ship from her board. "You sunk my battleship." She stopped to think. "Hey Giovanni? Can I stay the night again tonight? Also, H5."  
Giovanni placed a red peg on his five-peg long ship. "Of course! Like I said, stay as long as you want."  
Molly smiled up at him thankfully.  
"J7."  
"Aw, you hit one of my ships again!" She complained.  
"Yes!"  
The two continued to play, sometimes shouting when they sunk a ship, or one of their ships was sunk. Luckily, the shouting was not loud enough to wake up Sylvie. In the end, Molly was victorious. She barely beat Giovanni, however, and it was a very close game. At Molly's request, they played a second game, and once again, she won. The second time, the game was a lot less close, despite Giovanni swearing there would be "No my mr. nice bad guy."  
When they had cleaned up the game and put it away, Giovanni switched on the tv. It was on the news, which his mom watched every morning before he woke up. "Booooriiiing!" He jeered, switched the channel to cartoons. A newer show called Magical Madness was playing.  
Molly looked at the screen with a grin. "I love this episode!"  
"You watch this show too?" Giovanni asked gleefully, "Dude, that's awesome!"  
"Yeah," Molly answered, "Only a few other kids at my school have started watching it, but everyone who has, loves it!"  
"I can't imagine someone watching this show and hating it," Giovanni remarked.  
"Me neither," Molly agreed, "Are you going to watch the new episode Monday night?"  
"Of course! I wouldn't miss it for the world," he replied.  
Molly asked, "Then can I come over and watch it with you? My sister always hogs the tv. I have to wait for her to go to bed before I can watch anything, and she deletes things I record so she can record all her favorite episodes."  
"Aw, that sucks," Giovanni groaned, "Of course you can come over to watch it. I can even pick you up and drop you back off."  
"That'd be great! Thank you!"  
Just then, the two of them heard a door opening from the hallway. They both turned towards the noise, quiet and alert. A still very sleepy looking Sylvie entered the room, rubbing his tired eyes and dragging a fluffy, pastel blanket with him.  
"Good morning," he mumbled, "What time is it?"  
Giovanni glanced at his phone. "It's around 11:45."  
"11:45? You guys let me sleep until 11:45? Why didn't anyone wake me?" Sylvie yelled.  
"Because you were tired," Molly answered calmly, "You really needed to sleep."  
"Bear Trap's right, you know," Giovanni reinerated, "You don't sleep that long for no reason."  
Sylvie made a small anxious noise.  
"Relax, Sylvie. Sit down and watch Magical Madness with us," Giovanni told him.  
Sylvie sighed, and sat down on the couch with them. After a few minutes of watching, he commented, "Hey, this show is pretty good."


End file.
